In a sign of how things are ever-changing in the entertainment industry, filmmaker Tyler Perry has signed a four-picture deal with Amazon Prime Video to produce films for the streaming platform.
Key Details
- The studio announced Monday that the writer, director, and producer of the Madea franchise would be bringing his work to the platform—producing four feature films for global distribution.
- Perry has released three films for Netflix since 2019 and previously directed 20 theatrically released films for Lionsgate. His filmography has grossed more than $1 billion globally.
- His newest film A Jazzman’s Blues was released at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival to some of the most positive reviews of his career.
- “I’m looking forward to continuing telling unique stories and bringing my next projects to the global audiences that they reach,” says Perry.
- Details on the four films he is going to produce have yet to be revealed. It is unclear if he will be producing original dramas or an additional entry to the Madea franchise.
Why it’s News
Tyler Perry is one of the most consistently successful filmmakers of the past 20 years, having written, directed, and produced 12 films with his titular Madea character. He also owns his own production studio in Atlanta, Tyler Perry Studios. He has accrued an estimated net worth of between $800 million to $1 billion, according to Parade.
“Owning his studio and his content makes everything he films there automatically bring in extra cash. Perry says, ‘I own the lights. I own the sets. So that’s where the difference is. Because I own everything, my returns are higher,’” says Parade.
His directorial debut Diary Of a Mad Black Woman, the first appearance of his Madea character, grossed $50.7 million in theaters and $150 million in home media sales on a budget of $5.5 million in 2005.
“I was done with Madea, completely done with it. But as I’ve been looking at the state of the world [and] the amount of joy and laughter that it brought to so many people, that’s what I think is missing. We need that laughter and that joy,” says Perry.
Notable Quote
“[Perry’s wealth] wasn’t inherited; he earned every dime. Every piece of that studio he bought with his dough. I think the idea of letting people know that this wasn’t a gift, this was hard-earned, [is important]. And in any other place, he’d be at the tip of everybody’s tongue, the talk of the town—it would be a huge thing. And yet somehow, people haven’t really stepped up to recognize it as far as I’m concerned,” says Whoopi Goldberg.